Success for Te Awamutu Fonterra plant

Fonterra Te Awamutu has scooped two major awards across the company — the award for Best medium Site and the Health and Safety Award.

The awards celebrate excellence across a range of categories, and Te Awamutu was chosen Best Medium Site Cup based on their outstanding work controlling costs and generating value for the co-operative's shareholders.

Site manager Thomas Watts says it's a great result for a dedicated team.

"The cup is a testament to everyone working together," says Thomas.

"There's no individual that stands out — everyone has played a role in what has been a hugely successful year.

"Our team makes products that are shipped all over the world and we are committed to making quality food that's fit for our customers first time, every time, so it's great see all the efforts of all 270 of our staff get recognised."

The team also took home the Health and Safety Award following a 50 per cent reduction in injuries since last season.

Site Health and Safety supervisor Erin Pemberton says is the result of a highly successful proactive management approach.

"Everyone is genuinely committed to identifying hazards and managing risks," says Erin.
"We've concentrated on managing every level of process with a safety focus, which has led to having better control of the risks that put staff in danger.

"The award is a testament to everyone's commitment to safety and it's nice to see it working."

Fonterra Hautapu won the Sustainability Cup for embedding sustainability as part of everyday decision making.

They impressed the judges with their commitment from all levels and departments to keep sustainability top of mind in all their decision making and their focus on 'the big four' – water, energy, effluent and chemicals – which has reduced Hautapu's environmental footprint.

¦Fonterra Te Awamutu is the sixth largest producer of dairy ingredients in New Zealand. The plant produces 90,000 tonnes of milk powder each year, enough bags to span the length of New Zealand three times.

* Te Awamutu is also Fonterra's main buttermilk producer in the Waikato region, and also makes butter and anhydrous milk fat: an ingredient commonly used in chocolate, ice cream and baking.

* During peak season, they process three million litres of raw milk per day.